How Often do You Clean Your Pipes?

I know there are a million answers to any question of personal practice or opinion, but that's exactly what I would like to know.

How often do you clean your pipes.
I'm still not very certain on my own schedule. When I started smoking pipes I almost immediately got stricken with pad and had a 7 day rotation very shortly. I was cleaning once a week after reading a cleaning should be done after about 6 or 7 smokes somewhere, but then I realized if I have a different pipe every day of the week, then I was cleaning after every bowl, so of course I stopped and its been a little while since I've done a full cleaning, but even then I'd say I haven't smoked a single pipe more than 7 times since because my collection keeps growing, and my 7 day set has never been the same more than 2 weeks.

So what do you gentlemen do? How often do you clean your pipes?

"The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him." - G. K. Chesterton

I'll smoke a particular pipe throughout the course of a day. I then clean it using a Q-tip to swab out the shank and then run a couple of pipe cleaners through it and put it up to rest while I smoke another.

I try and smoke a certain pipe only once in a day, stick a pipe cleaner down the steam to get out any moisture and let it sit till the next time. Do a full on alcohol and salt treatment when it tastes sour or feel like it could use it.

I like to run an alcohol soaked pipe cleaner after each smoke then a few dry ones till they come out looking clean. After about a dozen smokes I use a shank brush soaked on alcohol or some bristled cleaners. It might be overkill, but to me a nice clean pipe ensures a sweet smoke.

Personally, fter break-in, I let my pipes rest for at least 7 days between smokes, using only a few pipe cleaners after each smoke. After 5-7 smokes, I disassemble and deep clean with alcohol, and do any needed exterior maintenance. I usually batch up a small group to deep clean all together.

I feel like this is conservative, but it keeps my pipes sweet and dry. Plus, it kind of forces me to use more pipes more frequently.

I smoke anywhere from 5-10 bowls per day, runa pipe cleaner through after each smoke or 2 then give it a good cleaning at the end of the day and let it sit for 4-5 days for my rotation. I also pretty much smoke only cobs.

Pipe cleaner after each smoke, paper towel to the shank if I'm smoking a Peterson System, paper towel and/or bottle brush to the bowl after each smoke. Shank cleaning with Q-tip at the end of the day. Alcohol to the stem and shank as needed. Rest at least 24 hours. Trim the cake as needed, about every couple months. No more than 3 bowls out of one pipe per day. I have 15 pipes and 2 cobs.

After every smoke I let the pipe rest, once cooled I remove the stem and run alcohol soaked pipe cleaners through it till clean. Then I take a shank brush soaked in alcohol and clean the shank. If the brush doesn't fit, then I use a bristled pipe cleaner that I bend in half.

As long as I got a pipe full of baccy and a nose full of snuff, I'm a happy camper
Cigarettes are an addiction, cigars are a hobby, pipes are a religion

I use pipe cleaners at night when my day is over. I smell the bowl and stem. If it smells? (bad) I go father in the cleaning. If I don't do a good cleaning, it ruin's the next bowls flavor.

If I use any alcohol, I let the pipe rest for a week before smoking it again. When I go out for the day, I always have 4 to 5 clean pipes with me in the truck. I change off tobacco's as the day goes on. I enjoy the experience more when I do this. I save the cleaning for when I get home and I'm done smoking my pipes for the day. I enjoy the cleaning as much as I enjoy the smoking. You take care of your stuff, ya know?

There is really a lot of variation. That is one of the great things about the love of pipes. Its always different according to the personality of the one who smokes. We can be as obsessive or relaxed as we want, and aside from actually destroying the pipe in the process there is not really a right way or a wrong way.

I'm still developing my rhythm. I use a pipe cleaner in the stem and bowl after I've smoked a bowl. And since I probably do not smoke the same pipe but once a week (or less), I'll probably go with a quarterly deep clean.

I run a pipe cleaner through the stem and then double it over and go around the inside of the bowl with it after every smoke. About every 1 1/2 to 2 months I do a more in-depth cleaning with bourbon whiskey.

Hey gang, where can I get a brush for the pipe to clean it? This is all new stuff to me. I probably need to give my Briar a good cleaning now that I'm reading this. I usually run a few cleaners through it and around the bowl after each smoke, and then let it rest for at least 48 hours.

I clean a pipe after every smoke, when the pipe is cool. I run a pipe cleaner through tipped with Everclear and then run the dry end through. If you keep your pipes clean, 1 pipe cleaner will usually do the trick. I usually leave the inside of the bowl alone (calabash/meerschaum pipes are the exception) unless it is time to ream some cake. I wipe the outside of the pipe with a slightly moistened cloth and wipe the stem with a sanitary wipe. A clean pipe smokes best!

It took me about 4 months to get around to cleaning all the pipes, I take them apart use a brush on the shank and a bristle cleaner and sweetener on the stem. I smoke with a cleaner at hand but I only us it to remove a bit of tobacco if a clog happens, after the smoke when the bowl is empty I give a blow into the stem to get rid of any bits then rack the pipe.

I've been running a couple of pipe cleaners through after each smoke. When breaking in a new pipe (briar), how vigorously should I be cleaning the bowl after a smoke.? I don't want to interfere with the caking process.

Now keep in mind I smoke cobs almost exclusively, I love the flavor. I run a pipe cleaner we through mine every time I use it until the cleaners come out white. I do a thorough cleaning about every 5-10 bowls, or if I know it's going to be a long time before I smoke that pipe again. I have to say sometimes I clean my pipes just because I love the taste that the alcohol leaves in a blend, especially if I'm going to smoke a weak flavored blend like an Aro.